An interchange infringement proved to be the deciding factor as Hawthorn and St Kilda played out an 87-87 draw in their Friday night blockbuster at Docklands.

At the full-time siren, the Saints had kicked 14.3 (87) to the Hawks' 13.9 (87), after Cyril Rioli's goal with less than two minutes to play was disallowed due to confusion on the bench that seemingly resulted in only 19 Hawthorn players on the park.

As the play stopped while Rioli set up for his free kick, a bunch of players had gathered at the Hawthorn bench and Campbell Brown was having his head bandaged.

There was apparent confusion as Alastair Clarkson's staff tried to figure out who was going back onto the park, and the yellow flag went up when it was decided there were too few Hawks on the ground.

A bewildered Hawthorn skipper Sam Mitchell had no clear idea of what transpired.

"I think we had too many off, I didn't know if that was supposed to be a free kick or not but ... yeah, I'm not sure," he told Grandstand.

"Certainly our bench got it wrong, lots of players [were] coming on and off at once.

"I think we had too many off and [then the] free kick, 50-metre penalty and all that. Riewoldt takes a good mark and the ball's played in their half and we lost it when it mattered."

Seconds later from the resulting 50-metre penalty, Saints skipper Nick Riewoldt was fed a perfect chance to bring his side to within a point but missed a set shot from 35 metres out to narrow the deficit to a single goal.

Ruckman Ben McEvoy was St Kilda's saviour, exploiting Hawthorn's lacklustre set-up in the goalsquare by soccering through a loose ball uncontested from a bounce-down.

There was never more than a point in it at each change - the Hawks were ahead at quarter-time, the Saints at the half and scores were tied at the final break.

Mitchell said the draw was an empty result, but the side could take some positives out of it.

"It feels like a big waste of time, to be honest," he said.

"You just get nothing out of the game.

"But at least we know we can match it with the best sides in the comp - we ran Geelong close and we drew the Saints so we're thereabouts, and we've just got to play some better footy."

Lance Franklin kicked five goals for Hawthorn, which looked for all money like it was going to defeat St Kilda at Docklands for the first time since 2002.

Two of his majors put the Hawks in a winning position in the third before the Saints clawed their way back by the final change, and Stephen Milne struck twice in the fourth term to give the 2009 grand finalists the edge.

Milne had barely made an impact before that point but his majors were St Kilda's saving grace.

Jarryd Roughead missed two crucial set shots from right in front at different stages in the game, but kept his cool with four minutes to play to slot an important goal for the Hawks and finished with three, but it was all in vain.

Hodge was the main ball-winner on the night with 33 disposals and six inside-50s but looked to have suffered a hamstring injury, as did Franklin who still managed to kick through the pain.

The Hawks' attacking spearhead gave away four 50-metre penalties though, and the Saints duly capitalised on the mistakes.